All Tied Up
by DoraeAzure
Summary: Now that she's finally figured out what she wants, Lily's hoping for a more permanent arrangement.  Sequel to The Price of Freedom-Freedom Arc #2 .
1. Forever in His Eyes

**Chapter 1: Forever in His Eyes**

**Disclaimer:** All Harry Potter characters, objects, settings, and plots are the property of J.K. Rowling. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise associated with Harry potter. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made from the writing of this fanfiction.

**A/N:** Sequel to The Price of Freedom.

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Lily is happy. Happier than she's ever been, despite her father's deteriorating health and her dying relationship with her sister, and despite the horrors being committed every day against wizards and Muggles both.

Lily can't help being happy, despite it all. She's in love. She's made peace with her boyfriend's crazy friends and their trouble-making ways, and she's about to graduate. She's even got several job offers, one of which is more and more appealing every time she thinks about it. Everything is sparkling and bright.

Except for one thing.

"James, I don't understand why you won't talk about this."

Her boyfriend makes a dismissive noise and scrunches his long frame into a more comfortable position, pressing his face briefly against her knees before settling his head back in her lap.

"James?"

"'M sleepin,'" he mumbles, voice low and drowsy.

"You aren't. We've been chatting for ages."

"Sleepin' now," he mumbles back.

Lily huffs, glaring at the side of her boyfriend's head and stilling the fingers she'd been running through his thick hair.

"Don' stop," he groans, lifting a hand to pat at hers.

"I'll keep petting if you'll talk," she offers, but resumes stroking.

James is silent a long moment. "I just don't see how this discussion is necessary," he finally grumbles. Lily can see the way his forehead is scrunched up in a frown, can feel the pressure of it on her thigh.

Lily frowns herself. "You don't see how discussing our post-graduation living situations might be important?" she asks, incredulous.

James gives a sullen half-shrug.

"James!" Lily fists his hair and yanks, not hard enough to do any real harm, but hard enough to sting.

"Ow! Lily!" James rolls onto his back and glares up at her, rubbing his sore scalp with one hand.

He does not, Lily notices, sit up or move away. The part of her that is not annoyed with him feels warm and fuzzy. Inwardly, she scowls at herself.

Outwardly, she scowls at James. He scowls back. Lily allows her scowl to morph into a solid glare, then thinks the problem over and easily changes tactics.

"Alright," she says, letting her expression smooth out into a thoughtful mien.

"Alright?" James looks startled.

"Alright."

They are silent for several minutes. Lily leans back against the sofa they are occupying in the Gryffindor common room, fiddling with the hem of James's sleeve with both hands as she waits for James to speak.

"What do you mean, 'alright'?" he finally demands.

She tilts her head down to meet his eyes. "Frank Longbottom is taking a job with the Aurors after graduation, so he'll be living in London. Alice is still considering a position with the Aurors herself, and she's wanting live close to Frank regardless, so Alice is moving to London as well. She's been asking if I'd like to share a flat with her. As I'm considering several jobs in London myself, as you know, I've agreed."

"What?"

Lily continues as if he hasn't spoken. "The only reason we haven't already signed a lease is because we're not sure what part of town we want most to live in. Alice would like a flat near Frank's, but I was hoping we could find one somewhere further from the Ministry. I was also hoping to find out where you were planning to be, but if you don't want to talk about it, we'll just go ahead and take the one Alice's mum found for us."

"I thought you were planning to move home after graduation!"

"You wouldn't have, if you'd let me talk about it," she tells him blandly.

James scowls again.

Lily relents with a tiny smile. "Is that why you didn't want to talk about it? Because you assumed I was moving home?"

James is quiet. After a few seconds pass, he reaches for her hand and puts it back in his hair. She flashes a grin, which he ignores, and obeys his silent command, sliding her fingers through his inky black waves. James relaxes with a sigh, closes his eyes, and reaches out blindly to take her other hand. She laces their fingers together and he settles their hands on his chest.

Even in the midst of this serious discussion, Lily feels contentment settle inside her. She always does, in quiet moments like these.

"I knew you were worried," James begins. "About your family, I mean." Lily stills at the implied reference to the rising number of Muggle deaths the _Prophet_ has been reporting the last few years. Lily _is _concerned. Many of the deaths reported in the last six or seven months have been Muggles with wizarding relations.

James squeezes Lily's hand. Lily feels reassured despite herself. James just has that effect.

"I thought you'd be going home so you could keep an eye on things, offer your family some protection. I just didn't want to think about you being so far away."

Lily smiles. "Every square inch of my family's property is warded, thrice over. I check them regularly every time I'm home for a visit. And I'm always researching new wards. I've been doing it ever since I came of age."

"I know, but you've been worrying for ages that wards wouldn't be enough."

"I'm still worried. But I've thought about it, and I think the best way to protect my family is to help track down the source of the problem rather than sitting around waiting for the symptoms to affect me."

James frowns. "I didn't think you were interested in going into the Auror program."

"I wasn't," Lily replies. "I'm not. But I've been offered a position with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement doing investigative potions and charms work. The team I'll be working with also develops spells and potions for Aurors and Hit-Wizards to use in the field."

James just stares at her.

Lily grins. "Essentially," she tells her flabbergasted love, "I'll get all the training of an Auror, insider knowledge of parts of the Ministry that you potential Auror types probably won't see much of, intense charms and potions training, and close proximity to you. Every day."

James blinks. Then he hooks a hand around the back of her neck and tugs her down for a kiss. "I love you," he tells her when they part.

Lily's lips pull up in a smug little smile. "I know," she tells him.

"That's not the appropriate response, Lils," James replies with a mock frown.

Lily laughs. James smiles back at her, and then sighs. "I'm still not sure I'm going to do the Auror thing, you know."

"I know. Remus can't do it, Peter's unsuited to it, and Sirius has problems with authority. You'd be Marauderless and miserable. To be honest, I'm not sure that you would be able to work under that kind of rule structure anyway. All four of you work much better as a freelance team. All the more reason for me to take this job. Then at least one of us will be in the DMLE. And you'd take that job with the Department of Magical Games and Sports, so I'll still see you every day."

"It won't bother you? If I'm not an Auror?"

"Honestly?" James nods. "I'll feel better if you don't go out and pull dangerous stunts without at least one Marauder in attendance."

"Really." James stretches out the vowels, his expression one of interest. "I was sure you'd be uncomfortable with me joining Dumbledore's Order if I wasn't getting official combat training somewhere."

Lily rolls her eyes. "A total stranger running after you into danger, or someone who knows you and how you move and how your mad brain functions." Lily arches an eyebrow at the boy in her lap. "It's a fairly simple choice. I _do_ have a rather invested interest in your living through each day."

"Do you, now?" James is the one wearing a smug smile now.

Lily shrugs. "I fancy you a bit."

"A bit."

"Mm."

James laughed. "Alright."

"Alright?"

"Yeah," James stretches, pushing his legs out over the arm of the sofa and knocking one of Remus's temporarily abandoned books onto the floor, before wiggling back up into his original position, curled up on his side as close to Lily as he can get. He yawns. "I'm thinking you should take me to see this new flat of yours. That way, when Remus and I finally manage to bully Sirius into looking for a place, we'll know where we should be looking," he tells her, rubbing his cheek against her knee and closing his eyes.

Lily takes a moment to admire the way his eyelashes fan out, dark and thick, and then leans down to kiss the side of his head gratefully.

"I love you," she murmurs.

James curls one hand beneath her knee, pulls himself a little closer, and smiles. "I know."

Lily watches as James drifts off to sleep. She tangles her fingers in his hair and thinks about her life. She thinks about graduation, and her new job, and her new plans. But mostly, she thinks about the future, and she thinks about James.

She thinks about the way James looks at her, calm and confident, with forever in his eyes.

She thinks she probably shouldn't get too comfortable in her new flat.

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More to come! It'll be slow though. This is my last semester, and it's kicking my butt.


	2. Don't Worry About Tomorrow

**Chapter 2: Don't Worry About Tomorrow**

**Disclaimer:** All Harry Potter characters, objects, settings, and plots are the property of J.K. Rowling. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise associated with Harry potter. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made from the writing of this fanfiction.

**A/N:** Sequel to The Price of Freedom. A teensy bit angst, but it's very, very temporary, I promise.

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Lily is studying in the library. She's in the back corner at her favorite table, practically buried in the stacks, books piled high around her and parchment and ink spread out in between. She knows her presence is irritating at least four couples who like to use the library for purposes other than that for which it is intended. She knows because each couple has wandered back to her little corner over the course of the afternoon, laughing and whispering and looking for a place to snog, and each promptly drew up short at the sight of her books and parchment splayed over the table, stared at her with incredulous expressions, and then wandered away with many backward glances.

She knows too because James has tried many times in the past to distract her while she was ensconced at this table, ignoring his advances in favor of studying.

This is Lily's sanctuary. It's quiet and secluded, so she can study without interruption or the distraction of other students moving about and whispering to one another, as they do in the main part of the library. She also likes it because it is one of the few places in the library where there is a window. The window is located right next to Lily's favorite chair, and she often finds herself looking out whenever she needs to take a little break.

Which is how Lily ends up staring out the window on this particular day. It starts as a minor study break—just a chance to rest her tired eyes and enjoy the sight of the sun shining on the lake outside.

But then she spots him, tall and handsome, hair mussed appealingly and cheeks flushed from exertion. She finds herself smiling as she watches her boyfriend chase after his best friend, who is holding something shiny and gold—James's snitch, she suspects—and is laughing so hard he can hardly keep his feet under him. Lily shakes her head, her smile growing. If he keeps up like that, James will surely catch him.

No sooner does she have this thought than Sirius stumbles in his laughter, and James tackles him to the ground, wrestling the tiny winged ball from his friend's grasp and trapping Sirius in a headlock. He uses his fist—wrapped tightly around the snitch—to punish Sirius's scalp, knuckles digging deep and destroying Sirius's carefully styled hair.

Lily laughs a little as she watches, loving how happy and carefree James looks.

He often looks like that. He looks even happier when he is with her—looks ecstatic at the sight of her most days, an expression that usually precedes him bounding over to wherever she is, kissing her breathless and promptly ushering her over to wherever he's been sitting, tucking her under one arm and keeping her close beside him as they go.

That's most days. But some days...More and more days lately...

Lily is beginning to think something is wrong. James is still reluctant to talk about anything post-graduation. Lily thought they'd worked everything out that day on the couch, made everything better, but...

Sometimes James is distant. Surly. Sometimes he shoots her strange, apprehensive glances from across the room. Where once there was _always_ a place for her beside him, now he sometimes is so tightly surrounded by his little group of friends that there is no space for her at all.

Lily is worried. She is trying desperately not to be. She wants to trust him. She _loves_ him. And really, there's not that much to be worried _about_. But there's still a tiny part of her that wonders why a boy who could have anyone would want _her_. Why he would chase her for years. Why...just _why_?

Lily is not unaware of her faults—and there are many of them—or of the way she and James are so incredibly different in so _many_ ways.

Part of her is beginning to wonder, just a little, if maybe the whole thing really was a joke to begin with.

She _hates_ that tiny part of herself.

The more practical part of her knows there was never any joke, but at the same time, can't help wondering if...if maybe James...

If maybe he's changed his mind now that the chase is over and all the challenge is gone.

Just then there is a clattering noise behind her, followed by much laughing and shushing. Lily rolls her eyes, annoyed that there is yet _another_ couple interrupting her solitude, and keeps her gaze trained out the window, intent on ignoring the invaders. She notices then that James and company have left the grounds and vaguely wonders how she'd managed to miss their disappearance before now. Before she can come to any kind of conclusion on the matter, she hears the dearest voice in the world behind her.

"Sirius, go away. I'm just here to find Lily, yeah? I'll meet you back in the Common Room in a bit."

She hears Sirius snort, mutter something about tagging along to ensure James doesn't get _distracted_, and then James appears in the gap between the stacks. His eyes meet hers and instantly, his face lights up.

"Hey love," he says, hurrying across the space between them, "I thought you might be here." He leans across the table to kiss her, and it's just like it always is: heart-stopping, breath-stealing, all-consuming.

When he pulls away and smiles at her, _that_ smile, _her_ smile, she wonders how she ever could have doubted him at all. Because she has never felt so loved, or so much like she's capable of accomplishing anything and everything, as she does when James kisses her.

And yet...

And yet, even as James helps her pack her things and moves automatically to carry her bag over one broad shoulder, even as he reaches for her hand and twines their fingers together and aims a sharp kick at Sirius's shin for pretending to sick up at the sight, even as he pulls her close and includes her in their conversation and makes suggestions for how they should spend their next Hogsmeade trip ("No Sirius, you may _not _ come. There are times when the Marauders are not, in fact, inseparable; my dates with Lily are off limits to you."), Lily feels a niggling doubt at the back of her mind that this won't last.

Lily takes a deep breath and firmly shoves the doubt away. Regardless of what may happen later, she _has_ him today. She'll worry about tomorrow when it comes.

Lily grips James's hand a little tighter and lets him lead her up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower.


	3. Interlude I: The Crux of the Problem

Interlude I: The Crux of the Problem

Summary: Now that she's finally figured out what she wants, Lily's hoping for a more permanent arrangement.

**Disclaimer:** All Harry Potter characters, objects, settings, and plots are the property of J.K. Rowling. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise associated with Harry potter. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made from the writing of this fanfiction.

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Sirius is sitting on his bed, fiddling with a smoke bomb—James knows he's trying to make the smoke come out colored—when James throws the door open. Sirius glances up distractedly and offers James a grin in greeting, then goes back to muttering and waving his wand over the bomb.

"Pads, I have a problem," James announces, storming across the dorm with little care for the state of Sirius's concentration. He reaches his bed in several long strides and tosses his bag down at the foot of it.

"You have so _many_ problems, Prongs," Sirius replies without looking up. "Which one are you on about?"

James lets out a silent huff and flops down face-first on his bed in response. Sirius goes still and silent. James can _sense_ his expectant stare burning into the top of his head. James just groans and reaches blindly to tug at his already mussed hair. He can practically feel it when Sirius's left eyebrow goes up.

"That bad, is it?" Sirius asks mildly.

James gets up, digging through his trunk until he finds a small, brown-wrapped parcel, then chucks it at Sirius's head.

Sirius catches it easily. "James! You shouldn't have!" He bats his eyes at James and clasps the package to his chest. "I shall treasure whatever it is for eternity."

James waves him off and flops down again, still face down but this time across the end of Siruis's bed. There's silence for minute or two, then comes the sound of paper crinkling and tearing. James turns his head to the side and opens one eye, watching Sirius's reaction when he uncovers the little box inside the wrapping and slowly lifts its lid.

There is silence for heartbeats upon heartbeats, then Sirius lets out a long, low whistle.

"Well, your taste in jewelry has certainly improved since third year, if that's what you're worried about," he finally says.

James winces at the reminder of the hideous Potter family ring he'd found in the attic and then insisted on wearing for nearly a month before his amused father had given in to Sirius's begging and forbade James to wear it to school.

"When did you buy it?" Sirius asks in a neutral tone.

James hesitates, weighing Sirius's persistence in finding out against the likelihood that Sirius would take the mickey out of him. Finally, he decides to suck it up and take it.

"January."

"Jan—" Sirius chokes. "You mean right after you started dating Lily?" he finally forces out.

James takes some time to curse under his breath. When he finally answers, his "yes" is barely audible.

Sirius cackles.

James scowls down into Sirius's comforter. "Belt up, Padfoot," he says and snatches up a pillow to chuck at his friend's head.

"You're so done for," Sirius crows. "Does Lily even know how whipped you are?"

"Belt. Up!" This time James skips the pillow and just swings at Sirius with his fist. Sirius easily dodges.

When James settles back on the bed, this time on his back, his best friend is suddenly serious.

"So, how are you going to ask?"

"I don't know!" James groans. He scrubs his face with his hands. "She's going to live with Alice after graduation and she's always talking about all these plans she's got for her life. I hardly feel like I'm a part of it. I don't want...I don't want to mess up her plans. And I don't have the slightest notion how to ask in a way that's...that's _good_ enough!"

"It won't mess up her life, James. And she loves you. Trust me, she won't care how you ask."

"I know she loves me. That doesn't mean she..." James trails off, then runs his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"If you're really worried about how to ask, you know Pete and Rem and I can help with that."

"I know. I know!" he adds when he catches sight of Sirius's 'James is being thick' face. "But..."

"She's going to say yes, Jamie," Sirius says, knowing, as he always does, what's really bothering James.

James glances at him, hesitates. "Yeah?"

Sirius looks down at the sparkling engagement ring in the box he's holding and smiles. "Yeah." Then he shoves his foot into James's ribs. "Now budge up, you smarmy git. I think you're laying on my smoke bomb."


	4. Trail of Breadcrumbs

Chapter 3: **Trail of Breadcrumbs**

**Disclaimer:** All Harry Potter characters, objects, settings, and plots are the property of J.K. Rowling. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise associated with Harry potter. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made from the writing of this fanfiction.

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Lily is sitting in one corner of the Gryffindor common room. She is curled up in one of the red, cushy armchairs, and she is alone. She is pretending to be reading one of the veela romances Alice was so fond of, but in reality she is keeping an eye on her mischievous boyfriend.

James and company are planning something, Lily knows. They are currently sitting on the floor, bent together over one of the little round tables near the fire, whispering quietly in that way they do when they are plotting.

This has been going on for ages now. Almost every time Lily goes looking for James, she finds him with the Marauders, whispering and snickering together. At first she tried joining in, or at least sitting nearby—something she'd had no choice but to become accustomed to doing when they were mid-plot unless Lily wanted to go days at a time without seeing James. But now they either stop talking, exchanging awkward glances and hiding bits of parchment away under books or inside pockets, or James makes some excuse to send her away and promises to come find her later.

He always follows through, but their time together is always very short.

It's worrisome. James is acting weird. He still won't talk about after graduation. And now she almost never sees him alone. On the rare occasion she does, he's usually on his way to join his friends. The amount of time they've spent together in the last week and a half doesn't even equate to the amount of time they used to spend together in one day.

But...

But when James kisses her, _every_ time James kisses her, it feels like they're the only two people in the whole world, like she's the only thing he knows or sees or cares about. Like she's everything. Every single time.

But then, those times are pretty rare these days.

Even worse, when she finds James and the Marauders plotting...they look at her. They smile false smiles and chat sweetly for a moment or two before shooing her away, and all the time their eyes laugh at her.

The worst of it is times like now, when she is in the same room with them (be it classroom, library, Great Hall, or common room) and they notice her sitting across the way. Then, in the midst of their plotting, they will glance over at her—sly, knowing glances—and then look away, laughing sneakily (or, in Peter's case, giggling in a terribly creepy manner), and whispering furiously together.

It's making her nervous.

Lily watches as Remus, James, and Sirius write furiously on a large piece of parchment, snatching the quill from one another whenever one of them has something to add. She smiles, sadly amused, as the intensity of the "conversation" rises until James and Sirius simultaneously have something vital to write. James reaches to snatch the quill from Sirius, who refuses to give it up. Words are exchanged, with Sirius firmly shaking his head as James tugs more firmly at the writing utensil in their hands. The situation devolves into fighting, both boys clutching a part of the quill with one hand, while shoving hands and elbows, and once even a knee, at each other in an attempt to wrest the quill away. Peter watches in confusion before offering a quill of his own to James. James tackles Sirius to the ground instead, laughing, and Lily hears him say, "Not the point, Pete!"

Remus shakes his, removes a quill from his satchel, and writes something on the parchment while muttering under his breath. Whatever he says brings both his wayward friends to heel, their messy heads popping up above the table again with almost identical expressions of curiosity, chased swiftly by amusement.

Sirius is watching Remus write and sticks his hand down in front of the quill to stop his friend going any further. "That's not what I said!"

"Get your hand out of the way, Pads, or get your own quill," Remus tells him.

"I'm with Prongs, it's not nearly so much fun if we all have our own." Even so, he surrenders the one he and James were fighting over and accepts the quill Peter is proffering. James looks at the mangled, barely functional quill in his hand and then at Sirius with a betrayed expression.

Sirius, who is rolling his eyes at James, hasn't moved his hand from the parchment. Remus casually jabs it with the tip of his quill when it continues to block his line of writing.

"Ow! Moony!"

Remus mutters something Lily can't hear. Sirius scowls at him irritably and mutters something back.

Remus keeps writing, but mildly replies, "If you'd had your own quill to begin with, I would have committed neither the alleged misquote nor the alleged battery—"

"Alleged? The whole blooming common room saw it!"

"Blooming?" James laughs at Sirius's choice of words.

"Moony thinks I swear too much," Sirius complains. "He's started nicking my money if I so much as think about cursing."

"No one wants to talk to you when every other word out of your mouth is filth, Padfoot" says Remus. "And I don't steal it. I put it in a jar and am saving it for your future edification. Which says a lot about my faith in you, really. Now belt up. Peter has been more productive than both of you this morning, I swear."

Peter sniggers.

"That's cause Pete's a goody-two shoes," Sirius sneers good naturedly at their quieter friend, reaching out with the feathered end of his borrowed quill to bat at the one Peter's been the sole possessor of all morning. Peter bats him away and huffs a little but otherwise ignores him, reaching out instead to add a line or two of his own in the margin.

"And what am I?" asks Remus, sitting back so that his Prefect's badge is visible.

"Loud, that's what," says James, cuffing both Remus and Sirius on the head. He eyes are on Lily, and he smiles sheepishly, apologetically, when their gazes meet before ducking his head back down round the table.

Lily's heart clenches. Sometimes it feels like she and James have been together forever, but they haven't. The relationship is still fairly new and, she's realizes, her trust in him is still fragile.

Lily is really trying not to panic, but she's not sure she's succeeding.

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Lily is studying. She feels like that's all she does these days. It's never bothered her before, but she's never had a boyfriend to be distracted by before. She's been trying to study in the common room all day (because that's the only way she catches a glimpse of James these days, although she refuses to admit to herself that that's the reason she's there), but every hour that goes by (without seeing James) makes her more and more distracted. Eventually, she decides a change of scene is necessary.

Lily packs all her things into her bag and makes her way to the library. It's early afternoon and it's a lovely, warm spring day, so the library is practically deserted. Lily makes her way back to her favorite table anyway, it's her favorite after all, and besides, she's in a foul mood. She doesn't want to risk having to talk to anyone.

Only when she arrives at "her" table, every inch of it is covered in books and parchment. Lily frowns, looking at the mess. There is something off about the books, she thinks, leaning closer to better examine them. The books are scattered almost at random, as though someone's intention was simply to cover the table. And...Lily leans closer to read some of the titles on the books—they all seem to be on different subjects. Lily tilts her head, frown deepening, trying to get a better look at the books on the far side so that she can see if they're as oddly mismatched as the ones on this side. (What _is _this person researching she wonders.) But she leans a bit too far and she has to put a hand down to keep her balance. The moment the tips of her fingers make contact with the table, a small, shining red box materializes in the center of the table with a little shower of blue and gold sparks.

As she watches, a little gold bow appears on top, followed by a tag which swiftly spells the word "Lily" in scrolling golden letters.

"Hello," she murmurs, reaching tentatively for the little box. "What are you?" She hesitates before touching it, then gently lifts the box from the table. She holds it with her fingertips, turning it this way and that, examining it curiously. When her examination reveals nothing unordinary (except for a little red box that has appeared out of thin air), she turns her attention to the ribbon. She grips it with two fingers, pulls until it unravels, then flips the lid off the box with her thumb.

Inside the tiny box is a tiny roll of parchment. She reaches inside and removes the little scroll, unrolling it with her fingertips. She flattens it on top of one of the many books on the table and reads:

I know it is your time to study

but please don't be a fuddy-duddy.

Leave this room, come play a game;

your life may never be the same.

Clue number two, the writer vouches,

is in the room with squashy couches.

"What?" Lily stares at the tiny writing for long moments. Feeling confused, she picks up the box again and reexamines it, then does the same for the lid and attached tag. The tag still looks the same: her name in gold and nothing more. Lily thinks for a bit. She's bored. She doesn't really want to study. She's more than a bit grumpy.

She could use a distraction.

"Alright, I'll play, mystery writer," she murmurs. She reads the note again, thinks for a moment, and then: "Well, the most obvious place I know of with squashy couches is the Gryffindor common room. So I guess I'll try there first."

Lily snags the little piece of parchment and rolls it up again, sticking it back in its box and then dropping the box into her bag. Then she heads for the Gryffindor common room.

As she walks, she considers her new puzzle. The handwriting on the tag and the note is familiar—she is pretty sure she knows the author, as she knows the writing well enough to...well, to know that she knows it.

Additionally, she doesn't know many people who would do this kind of thing. In fact, she thinks with dawning realization, she really only knows four.

The Marauders.

It would explain the familiar handwriting, she thinks. And possibly all the plotting. Although some sort of odd little treasure hunt doesn't seem quite their style. And what's the point?

But...Lily pulls the box from her bag again, examines the tag and the parchment inside, and she smiles.

She's pretty sure that's Sirius's handwriting. His parents are pureblood, exacting, and very concerned with doing things the proper way. Sirius taught himself to write with a messy scrawl after the boys made fun of him during first year (Lily remembers clearly the way the other boys ribbed him in the common room the first few weeks about his girly handwriting), but Lily has seen the Marauder's Map, knows Sirius was the designated scribe for the majority of the required writing. Sirius's parents raised him "correctly"; his handwriting is beautiful.

Certain she is right, Lily turns her attention to the potential purpose of this little adventure. She hasn't come up with any particularly plausible possibilities by the time she reaches the common room, so she shrugs it off and goes inside. It's the Marauders. They're odd, and they've been stealing far too much of her boyfriend's time lately, but she trusts them. Whatever this is, it will at worst be embarrassing. She can handle being the butt of a little joke on occasion. Although she will have to murder them slowly and painfully if she goes through all the trouble of humoring them and it's really just a joke.

Lily wanders over to the big sitting area near the fireplace, where all the squashy couches are. She doesn't see anything at first and wonders what she's supposed to be looking for. At a loss, she sinks down on the couch closest to the fireplace (her favorite; the one where she and James sometimes cuddle together in the evening) and a bright red envelope, with Lily's name in gold script on the front, appears almost instantly on the end table beside her.

She picks it up—her name written again in Sirius's handwriting—and turns it over a few times, looking for anything important that might be on the outside. When she doesn't see anything besides her name, she slides a finger under the flap and breaks the fancy, gold-colored wax seal holding the envelope closed. She lifts a thick, rectangular sheet of parchment from the envelope (she senses Remus's hand behind the careful cut of the parchment) and turns it right-side-up so she can read it.

Most people do not like me much. It said, in James's scrawling handwriting this time.

They claim I tend to make a fuss.

But your red hair I will not touch,

nor with my tears make clothes a muss;

if you will come to visit me,

then I will give to you clue three.

"Hmmm..." Lily muses. She reads the clue several times more, thinking hard. When she figures it out, it's the "tears" part that clues her in. Only Moaning Myrtle is known to ruin clothes with tears—really, she is the only one who _can_.

What really concerns Lily is the fact that James and company know so much about a ghost who never leaves the girls' lavatory.

She decides that's not something she really wants to think about, so she turns instead to the fact that this particular toilet isn't one she wants to visit. But...well, clearly Myrtle has the next clue. And _this _clue clearly says that Myrtle won't cause too much of a fuss...

Despite those reassurances, Lily steps into Myrtle's toilet with a great deal of trepidation.

At first, nothing happens. She stands just inside the door and looks around, but sees nothing—no Marauders, no ghost, and no red envelopes. Lily frowns—what exactly is she supposed to do here—as she wanders in a little further. She circles through the open area by the sinks, fixes her school tie after she passes one of the mirrors and sees that it's slightly crooked, but eventually, seeing no other option, she makes her way to the haunted stall.

"Myrtle?" she asks quietly. No response. Lily hesitates, then calls Myrtle's name again while slowly pushing the door to the stall open with one hand. She jumps back with a startled shout when toilet lid, screaming ghost, and a geyser of water come shooting up out of the toilet. Lily is thrown back against the wall, her arms automatically rising to protect her face and head, and her eyes squeezed shut behind her arms. She huddles in a corner as the wailing and gushing and slamming goes on and on, seemingly forever.

But eventually it does stop. When everything is silent and calm once more, Lily slowly lowers her arms and opens her eyes. She takes quick stock of the situation—wet floor, wet walls, wet ceiling, wet Lily—and turns a baleful gaze on the ghost floating petulantly above the toilet.

"Oops," she says, but her expression is practically a smirk.

"Oops?" Lily echoes. "What happened to not touching or mussing?"

"Well it's not like I _meant_ to do it! I didn't know it was _you_, did I?"

"Perhaps you might consider looking before drenching. You might get more visitors if you did it that way. Did you drench James and Sirius and—"

"Oh, _please _ don't tell Siri!" Myrtle suddenly wails. "I promised I'd be nice, and if he finds out, he may never come see me again!"

Lily blinks. "Siri?" She heard everything else Myrtle said, but she really has trouble getting past that nickname.

"Oh, yes. Sirius Black. He has the big grey eyes, and lovely long hair...he's the _handsomest_ boy I've ever seen! And he's ever so nice. He visits me whenever he needs something kept secret."

"Secret."

"Oh, _yes_! We have _many_ secrets together, Siri and I."

Lily is torn between laughing and being sick. The Marauders have been planning pranks in a girls' toilet, and Sirius has been seducing a ghost to keep it secret.

Lily is _never_ going to let him live this down.

"I'm sure," is all Lily manages to say.

"You won't tell him, will you? I _am_ sorry. I didn't mean to get you wet. I expected you _hours_ ago. I didn't know you'd finally come."

Lily retrains from rolling her eyes, but only just. She pulls her wand from the side pocket of her bag and casts a quick drying charm. "It's fine, Myrtle," she assures the wailing ghost, who looks on the verge of tears (although Lily can see the sly, manipulative gleam behind the tears). "So, no harm done."

"Oh, good. I'd hate to have Siri _angry_ with me."

"Well, I won't tell Siri if you won't."

"Siri said you were nice, but I wasn't sure. Girls often aren't, you know, and they easily lead boys astray. But I like you," the ghost decides. "You will come back and visit won't you?"

"Perhaps, if Sirius and James and the others do," Lily hedges.

"Oh, James doesn't come very often anymore," Myrtle complains, looking disgruntled. "There's a _girl_ he's spending all his time with apparently. I've heard some _awful _things about her. She very loose and fairly stupid. I heard," Myrtle adds, drifting forwards and leaning down in a conspiratorial manner, "that she's got him under a love potion. It won't last, and then James will be back."

Lily keeps a straight face with an effort. "I'm sure you're right," she says. "Until then, I suppose Siri will just have to do. Speaking, of Siri," she adds quickly before Myrtle can go off in raptures about Sirius again, "isn't there something you're supposed to give me?"

"Oh, yes!" Myrtle exclaims. Then she frowns. "Well, no," she says, looking at Lily accusingly, "because I can't touch anything, you know. Because I'm _dead_." She pauses for effect, looking petulant. "But there is something I'm supposed to _show_ you. It's just there." The ghost drifts over to the last toilet stall and points down. Lily opens the door and sees a red envelope with a gold seal hovering just above the toilet inside a shimmering iridescent bubble.

Her eyes narrow suspiciously at the sight of that bubble. Sirius, she thinks to herself, still looking at that precautionary bubble, is a dead man. He'd _known _ Lily would end up wet when she came here. Lily does not enjoy being wet. She's going to cast a never-dry charm on him just as soon as she invents it, she promises herself.

In the meantime, she disperses the bubble with a flick of her wand and retrieves the envelope. Then she says a quick good-bye to the ghost as she makes a hasty exit.

Only once she's in the safety of the hallway does she open the envelope and read the next clue.

Eating here is just so much fun.

Please eat a lot until you're done.

We wish you to enjoy your meal,

even when we should serve you veal

Here, you will find lots of num-nums

in the place from which food come-comes.

The note is in Remus's handwriting this time, but those last two lines are all Sirius, she can tell.

Those last two lines also make this one easy. She'd thought at first it meant the Great Hall, but the part about the place from which food comes makes it rather obvious that it's the kitchens. Thanks to James, she even knows where that is now (really, there are so many things she knows these days that she's fairly certain she's not supposed to because of James).

Lily leaves the second floor and heads for the ground floor. The house-elves, when she makes her way through the painting of the bowl of fruit and down the stairs into the kitchens, are more than a little excited to see her. When she leaves, she is not only carrying yet another red envelope, but also three freshly baked brownies. She eats them, moaning in delight at the fudgy flavor, as she walks along, making her way up to the third floor and thinking about her newest clue.

In here, where feathers often fly,

and short men squeak with voices high,

clue five is where your eyes would be,

if books should fall from on dead tree.

She knows the next clue is in the Charms classroom. "Short men squeak with voices high" is clearly a reference to Flitwick; the reference to feathers makes it obvious the clue means his classroom and not his office. What is puzzling her, however, is the dead tree part. There aren't any dead trees in the Charms classroom, so it clearly means something else, she's just not sure what.

When she reaches her destination, she wants to smack herself in the forehead—the room is full of desks, chairs, shelves, and other bits of furniture, all made of wood. Which, once it's removed from the tree, is technically dead. She reads the clue again, trying to figure out which of the many pieces of "dead tree" she's supposed to be looking at. At first she thinks it must be one of the many bookshelves in the room. But when she checks the floor near every set of shelves and then, just to be thorough, checks the underside of each individual shelf to make sure there is nothing stuck to the bottom, and still finds nothing, she determines it must be something else. But what?

She looks around the room, thinking hard. Books and wood, books and wood...She turns in place a couple of times, looking for something that fits the description in the clue. Finally, she catches sight of the of the podium behind which Professor Flitwick usually teaches while...

"While standing on books stacked on a chair," she breathes. She rushes to the front of the classroom and smiles when she reaches the chair behind the podium, Flitwick's books stacked firmly on top. Now that she's looking closely, she suspects it's impossible for the books to fall as she's fairly certain the professor's used a Permanent Sticking Charm on them. The top book is too worn by his feet not to have been stuck firmly in place for a very long time.

Lily is pleased as she crouches down beside the chair, feeling a little like she's been let "in" on her favorite professor's secret. However, she is feeling significantly less pleased a few minutes later when she looks around and realizes that there is no red envelope in evidence, not on the floor, not under the chair, not tucked under the hollow podium.

"This has to be the right place," she murmurs. "'Clue five is where your eyes would be, if books should fall from on dead tree.' But that's the floor. And I'm looking at the floor. And there's nothing here. Except...except this rug. They wouldn't put it...Yes they would," she decides, when she remembers who it is she's talking about. Then she reaches for the corner of the rug, peeling it up to reveal a shiny patch of hardwood floor...

And a bright red envelope.

"Ha!" she exclaims, snatching it up. She carefully smoothes the rug back into place and does a little dance of success. Then she rips the envelope open, eager to figure out the next clever little puzzle.

She takes a moment to consider the irony of that brief thought: first that she's enjoying herself so much on this little quest, and second, that the Marauders of all people tailor-made it, apparently for her personal enjoyment.

Because the longer this continues, the more certain she is that it won't end in embarrassment at all. She doesn't know what the purpose _is_, but she does know this thing took far too much effort for them to be making a joke out of it. Something this elaborate...no. And they really do seem to have made it with her enjoyment in mind.

Lily _loves _ puzzles.

Not that the Marauders _wouldn't_ go this far for a practical joke—they certainly would, and had—but not one against her, she knows that much for certain. If James didn't put a stop to it, Remus would. And she has Peter wrapped around her little finger. Sirius likes her too, but Sirius...Well, Lily knows about fifth year. Sirius is capable of going much too far if not properly reined in. Which he obviously is. And she's rambling to herself now.

Giving herself a bit of a mental shake, Lily plucks the newest clue from its bright red encasement and eagerly reads. Or tries to. Peter's handwriting is messy and it takes her a few tries to decipher it.

I am ugly, don't remind me

Or I may not treat you kindly

Your fear of spiders you must quell

If here you come to say my spell

Your casting motions you must hone

to take your clue from this here crone.

A tiny part of her smiles at the fact that the other boys obviously let Peter do most of the work in writing this particular poem, not just physically, but creatively. Peter is a bit of an outcast even amongst the other Marauders, and he's often the butt of their jokes, but she knows the other three try hard to make sure he knows he's welcome in their little group.

The rest of her is busy trying to work out where she's supposed to go next. It isn't terribly difficult. It might have been, if it hadn't been for the word "crone," but as an official Marauder girlfriend, Lily knows all the Marauder secrets. Or most of them. At least a few of them. So she knows about the statue of the one-eyed witch and how well-traveled the path beneath her has been since the boys discovered it.

Best of all, she doesn't have to climb any stairs to get there.

The clue was right though, she does have to deal with both spell casting and spiders to get the next clue, which is just inside the witch herself. She has to cast several cleaning charms when she climbs out before she feels clean again.

Then she's reading the next clue:

I cannot fly, though I have wings

But I can do some other things

I like to sit in the hallway

Come to me on any fair day

Sweetly say to me the right words

And, wingless, you'll ascend like birds

Immediately, she's off for the seventh floor and the entrance to the Headmaster's office. As the Head Girl, she knows the password to get past the Gargoyle statue guarding the entrance, so she lets herself in and heads up the stairs. Dumbledore twinkles at her behind his half-moon glasses, his gaze shrewd, maybe even a little sly, as he hands her the now-familiar red envelope.

She thanks him politely, accepts the envelope, and leaves before her beloved Headmaster can offer her a third lemon drop. (She long ago gave up trying to explain that she hates lemon drops. She just takes them when he offers ever so insistently and slips them into her pocket. She thinks maybe he knows though because the twinkle in his eye is extra twinkly each time she does it.)

Lily drops the two pocketed lemon drops in a rubbish bin in a nearby classroom, then liberates the next clue from its red prison and drops the discarded envelope in the bin after the sweets.

I am a one with armor bright.

I stand still holding sword so tight.

I make quite an imposing sight—

my job: protecting, wait to fight.

Enemies should beware my might;

I'm first protection for the light.

This clue obviously refers to one of the many suits of the armor scattered throughout the castle. How is she supposed to figure out which one it means, though? She has no intention of looking at every single suit.

Despite her own resolve, she finds herself checking all the suits of armor she passes as she wanders down the seventh floor corridor. She doesn't find anything, but then she doesn't really expect to. She does come to the realization that there are suits of armor _all_ through the castle. So there must be something in this clue indicating where in the castle she should be looking.

It takes her awhile. There's nothing in the wording that jumps out at her, just a lot of general descriptions. It isn't until she's coming down the stairs from the first floor and steps into the corridor at the base of the Ravenclaw Tower that she hits upon an idea she thinks might be the right one. She hurries along the ground floor corridors until she reaches the Entrance Hall. Several suits of armor occupy alcoves around the Hall, the most prominent being the two flanking the main entrance—the "first protection for the light."

Sure enough, there's a red envelope stuck with spellotape to the back of the shield belonging to the suit on the right.

Lily does another little happy dance. That one was harder than the others have been, and she's proud of herself for figuring it out before she really did have to resort to checking every suit of armor from the seventh floor down.

Eagerly, she breaks the seal on the newest envelope and pulls out another thick piece of parchment. She reads the poem written in James's hand and smiles when she figures it out almost immediately.

I can live for ages but I die every year

Here there is green and some blue very near

Protective arms I stretch out above you

Share and support, while the one who does woo

Holds you and whispers sweet words in your ear

Words that, though I sit close, I cannot hear

I'm your best friend, no matter the season

Though in winter, you might end up freezin.

Humming a little, Lily rolls up this latest piece of parchment and drops it in the first clue's box with all the others. Then, with a happy skip in her step, Lily pulls open the front door and steps out onto the grounds.

She can't wait to see where this treasure hunt takes her next.

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Sorry it's a bit of a cliffhanger. It was getting far too long and finals are getting far too close. This seemed like the best place to cut it off for now. Dunno when the next chapter will be up, but I'll see what I can do about making it soon. :)


	5. Journey's End

**Chapter 4:****Journey's End**

**Disclaimer:** All Harry Potter characters, objects, settings, and plots are the property of J.K. Rowling. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise associated with Harry potter. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made from the writing of this fanfiction.

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It is evening by the time Lily liberates her newest envelope from its armored captor and follows the clue within it out onto the grounds. She's surprised when she leaves the building at how quickly the afternoon has gone by—it's nearly evening now—but she can't complain. She's been having far too much fun to worry about lost time.

Lily nearly runs as she makes her way around the far side of the lake. She is headed for a secluded spot she knows of where the lake curves away from the school—a spot near the Forbidden Forest, tucked slightly behind a large boulder near the lakeshore. There is a tree there with a wide trunk and low-hanging branches where Lily and James often meet to study or relax. This, she knows, is the solution to the newest clue.

She expects to have to find another clue when she gets there—perhaps by climbing to some awful high branch and plucking the envelope down like a piece of fruit—but instead what she finds is a shockingly huge box. It's wrapped in red, shiny paper—the thick, expensive kind—and tied with a golden ribbon at least as wide as her hand when she spreads her fingers apart. The ribbon is tied in a gigantic loopy bow on top, and there's a large white label resting on one corner of the box beside it. The front of the label says "Lily" in large letters and a familiar gold ink.

Lily approaches the box with caution—clearly this is the end of her journey (because she's not sure what she could possibly find after this that could top whatever is inside a box of this size), and the thought of a practical joke is back in her head. She lifts the tag first, and has to use both hands to hold it straight. She flips it over and finds writing on the other side that reads, "Yours to have and to hold from this day forward."

"Well, that's not at all cryptic," Lily murmurs, tugging the tag loose and dropping it gently to the ground.

She reaches for the ribbon next, taking hold of one end and pulling it until the bow comes loose and unravels neatly, the smooth, golden loops slithering from the box to land in bright, shining coils on the ground.

She moves to lift the box lid then, but the red paper sparks beneath her fingertips and she jerks her hand back. The sparks continue to go off, though, spreading until it seems the whole box is consumed by them, and then they all suddenly fly apart, sparks darting off brightly in every direction, swirling around and around until they finally dissipate.

Leaving James kneeling before her. On one knee.

"James!" Lily gasps and steps back in shock, her hand flying up to cover her mouth.

"Hey there, Lils," he says with a crooked grin. Lily, can't say anything; her eyes dart back and forth between his nervous expression and his hands, clenched together around something small and square. When she just continues to stare, James sucks in a deep breath and starts talking. "I know we're young," he begins, and Lily's eyes tear up. "And, it's...it's soon. Maybe it's too soon." James hesitates, and his uncertainty is endearing; Lily feels the tears start to spill over and blinks quickly to clear her eyes. "But...but I love you, Lily. I feel like I've always loved you. I can't imagine life without you, and honestly, I don't want to. What I want...what I _want_ is to spend the rest of my life with you." He pauses again, takes a deep breath. "So, Lily Evans, will you marry me?"

Gold and red sparks rise into the air and then gather into letters above James's head, spelling out the words "SAY YES" as James holds out his hands, an open ring box cupped in his palms.

Lily is fully crying by now, the tears flowing unchecked and unnoticed until she tries to speak and her voice catches instead. She sucks in a breath and dashes the tears from her eyes; she doesn't even notice when they keep coming, just drops her trembling hand from her mouth and finally whispers, "Yes."

James's eyes go wide. "Was that...was that a yes?" he whispers back.

"Yes," she whispers again. She clears her throat. "Yes, that was a yes," she manages in a slightly stronger voice.

In moments, James has her left hand held tight between both of his, and he's pressing his lips to her knuckles over and over, just below the place where a sparkling diamond ring now adorns her finger.

"Thank you, thank you," he's whispering between kisses. She lets out a tiny, involuntary sob and drops to her knees too, cupping James's face between her hands so he can press kisses to her lips instead. It's only when she pulls away that she feels the wetness on her fingers and sees the tear tracks on his face as well. She chokes out a laugh as she brushes first at his cheeks and then her own, trying and failing to wipe away their tears with her wet fingers. He laughs too, then reaches up and catches at her hands, pulling them down to rest against his chest as he kisses her again.

It's hard to kiss him properly when they're both grinning so broadly.

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If she'd been asked before it happened, Lily would have thought that having a quiet picnic dinner after a proposal of marriage would be anticlimactic. She would have been wrong.

The picnic is magical. James conjures a wide, soft blanket for the two of them to sit on beneath their favorite tree, and a large basket pops into existence of its own volition almost as soon as he does so. When she opens it, Lily finds almost all of her favorite foods are contained within the seemingly bottomless basket. Lily eats slowly, savoring both the food and the moment, and watches as two swans swim gracefully across the surface of the lake, the sun setting slowly behind them. They are beautiful, but she wonders where they came from; she can't recall ever seeing them before and knows the giant squid doesn't normally tolerate company.

Then again, the squid doesn't normally allow itself to be charmed or hexed or otherwise affected by magic in any way either, and yet, she notes as the squid slides by beneath the darkened surface of the lake nearby, the squid has an ethereal blue-green glow about it this evening. It's surprisingly beautiful, the softly lit shape of it swimming smooth and quiet through the water. Lily wonders how James and the others got close enough to charm the thing to glow.

James reaches back into the basket and pulls out a variety of sweets as the sun finishes its evening journey and their tree flickers to life with fairy lights. A few of the fairies flutter down from the branches, flitting around their heads in an excited dance that is lovely to watch. Lily holds up a finger for one of the fairies, who lights on it with a happy twirl before darting off again. Lily ends up sharing her dessert with several of the more daring creatures, and though James tries to chastise her (informing her that if she keeps this up, he will not be sharing _his_ desert with her when she runs out), but he can't stop laughing at her long enough to do it properly. She doesn't believe him anyway, and sure enough, when her dessert is gone, James happily gives her every other bite of his until both their plates are empty.

Later, James leans back against the trunk of their tree, Lily propped comfortably against him with her back pressed to his chest. She rests one hand on James's right knee, and the fingers of their left hands are twined together over Lily's stomach; every so often as they sit and quietly enjoy the evening, James brushes his thumb against her engagement ring in a gentle caress, then presses a kiss to her hair.

Eventually, Lily leans her head back against his shoulder and twists her head a little to look at him. His gaze softens and warms when their eyes meet, and it makes her heart flutter in happiness.

"I love you, James," she tells him quietly, because it is true, because she hasn't said it yet this evening (even though she's agreed to marry him), but mostly because she can't help but say it when he looks at her like that.

James's thumb brushes softly over her ring, and his lips press a gentle kiss to her brow.

But his expression, when he pulls back to look at her again, is all self-satisfied, smirking Potter at his worst.

"I know," he says, smug and full of himself, and she doesn't even care to protest the utter arrogance of it before he leans in to kiss her.

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NOTE: This is NOT the end! There many more chapters to come! ^_^


	6. Aftermath

**Title: All Tied Up  
><strong>**Chapter 5****: **Aftermath

**Disclaimer:** All Harry Potter characters, objects, settings, and plots are the property of J.K. Rowling. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise associated with Harry potter. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made from the writing of this fanfiction.

**Notes: **NOT the last chapter! Short again. Sorry guys.

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It's late when Lily and James make it back to the Gryffindor common room. The room is empty except for a small table by the fire, around which three figures are huddled. The moment the figures hear the quiet thud of the painting closing behind Lily and James, all three heads jerk up.

There is silence as Lily and James cross the room, hand in hand, under three expectant stares.

"Well?" Sirius finally demands.

James glances at Lily, a hint of mischievous glee in his eyes as he draws the moment out. Then he holds up their clasped hands, the diamond on Lily's finger glittering in the dim firelight.

Sirius lets out a loud whoop, echoed by Remus, who adds a relieved, "Thank Merlin!"

"'Thank Merlin,' Remus?" Lily arches an eyebrow, then feels all the air 'whoosh' out of her lungs as Sirius leaps over a sofa and throws himself on them in an exuberant hug.

"You've no idea what he's been like the last few weeks," says Remus, rising from his seat and tugging a grinning Peter up with him.

"The last few years!" Sirius pulls back enough to pitch in. "Maybe if he marries you, he'll stop going on about you so much." He grins at Lily to take the sting out of his words.

"Not likely," mutters Peter. Remus elbows him, but he's laughing.

Lily laughs too, then lets out a startled noise when Sirius presses a loud, congratulatory kiss to her cheek. Sirius laughs at her expression, then he does the same to James just to bother him and laughs even louder. James shoves him away with a shouted insult and wipes his cheek with the back of one hand.

"You're as much of a slobbery dog in human form as you are when you're actually a mutt, you pillock," he mutters, wiping his hand on his pants. Lily grins at them, then gets the breath knocked out of her again when Remus and Peter follow Sirius's example and tackle them.

"Hey!" shouts James when he and Lily both stagger under their weight. "You're going to crush my future wife before I get the chance to marry her, and then you really will never hear the end from me!"

After that, there is a lot of pushing, shoving, and shouting. Lily barely manages to wiggle out of the tangle of limbs before it tumbles to the ground. Straightening her robes, Lily bends over the wrestling boys and announces her intention to head upstairs.

"Wait!" James calls. "No, no, wait! Truce! Fifteen seconds, you, you..." Laughing, James partially emerges from the pile. He reaches out and grasps Lily's hand, tugging her down for a kiss before being yanked away by his friends with a shout.

Grinning, Lily wiggles her fingers at her trapped and protesting fiancé, then stops as the flash of light on her ring catches her attention.

Over her finger tips, she suddenly catches James's intense gaze as he watches her admire the ring he'd only just put on her hand and her breath catches for a second.

"Awwwwww!" Remus calls. "Look he's all twitterpated."

"Twitterpated!" Sirius and Peter echo in a laughing shout, and then James is pulled back into the shoving, kicking pile they've made of themselves.

Lily laughs, then, struck by a wicked thought, edges closer to the boys and says, "Good night, James! I loooooooooove yoooou!" Then she turns and skips up the stairs, ignoring James's demands for help ("As you're the cause of this, you troublesome, instigating woman!") and the renewed ribbing of his friends (at a much louder volume).

She's still snickering to herself when she reaches the entrance to her dorm and has to take a moment to compose herself before silently opening the door and tip-toeing into the room. It turns out she needn't have bothered because the moment she closes the door, the room is lit by a casually amused "_Lumos_!"

Lily blinks in the sudden light. "Alice," she glares, "what in Merlin's name are you doing?"

A quick glance around shows that it's not just Alice but all of Lily's roommates who are waiting up for her.

"You only miss curfew for two reasons Lily," says Evelyn.

"You're doing rounds as Head Girl," Karen chips in.

"Or you've been coerced into going out with the Marauders," adds Phyllis.

"But today," says Alice, "you didn't have rounds. And three-fourths of the Marauders have been slumped pathetically around a table in the common room all evening. So we all want to know. Just where have you been all evening, you naughty thing, you?"

Lily folds her hands behind her back and smiles, her expression just a little coy. "I haven't the faintest idea what any of you are talking about," she says.

"You're lying," Alice sing-songs.

"Why would you say that?" Lily asks, voice sweet and eyelashes innocently fluttering.

"You think after living with you for six and a half years we don't know when you're lying?" Phyllis asks, rolling her eyes.

"What are you hiding, Lily Evans?" Evelyn demands.

"Nothing much," Lily replies, grinning broadly now. "Just that I'm going to be changing my name in the not-too-distant future." She pulls her left hand from behind her back and wiggles five fingers and a flashing diamond ring at her roommates.

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Downstairs, the Marauders have settled into chairs by the fire to interrogate James after completing their celebratory wrestling match. The room is silent aside from their quiet, teasing voices until suddenly, from above, there is the sound of loud, prolonged screaming.

The boys are on their feet almost instantly in reflex, hands reaching for wands and half turning toward the stairs. Then all the screaming turns to...squealing? And there is a loud, rhythmic thumping, like feet stomping or...jumping.

Sirius drops back into his seat with an exaggerated eye-roll. James and Remus breathe sighs of relief.

Peter slouches back into his seat too. "Birds," he mutters, shaking his head ruefully.

"Too right, mate," Sirius agrees, clapping Peter's shoulder hard enough to shove him forward in his seat. "Too right."


	7. Interlude II: Setting the Date

**Interlude II:** Setting the Date

**Disclaimer:** All Harry Potter characters, objects, settings, and plots are the property of J.K. Rowling. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise associated with Harry potter. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made from the writing of this fanfiction.

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"I was thinking next spring."

"Next spring?" James, who has been lounging lazily on the floor of the common room at Lily's feet, jerks into an upright position in shock. He thinks those might be the worst words he's ever heard.

Lily looks up from her calendar curiously. "What's wrong with next spring?" she asks.

What's wrong with next spring? How can she even ask him that? "It's...next spring!" is all he can say. He swallows, and a sliver of apprehension slides down his throat and curls deep in his belly where it settles like a rock. Next spring is very far away considering that it's barely _this_ spring. Well, it's April. But still.

A tiny frown forms between Lily's brows, and she tilts her head at him questioningly. "Well, when would _you_ like to set the date?"

"As soon as possible," he answers instantly.

Lily starts to roll her eyes, clearly failing to take him seriously (because of course he'd say as soon as possible), but James makes a noise of frustration and waves his hand at her.

"I'm serious." He shifts closer to Lily's chair, expression earnest. "Look, I am _so_ happy you want to marry me, I'll show up for the wedding _whenever_ you want to set it. If you want to get married next spring, we'll get married next spring. Or the spring after that, or the one ten years after that. Whenever. Pick a day and I'll be _happy _about it. Wonderfully, sincerely, _deliriously_ happy. But if I had my way, I'd have married you yesterday. I've been waiting for you for years, Lils. And I'll happily keep waiting as long as you want so long as, at the end of it all, I have you as my wife."

James pauses and takes a deep breath, bowing his head to avoid her eyes as he continues. "But, honestly, Lily, I'd rather not wait at all. Now that I have you, I just...want to take you home and keep you."

He can feel Lily's stare on the top of his head for long, shocked moments. Then, from the corner of his eye, he sees her reach out slowly, feels her fingers slide gently through his hair. He leans forward in response, presses his forehead to her knee.

"How about August?" Lily murmurs after several minutes have passed.

"August?" His head jerks up, eyes wide and hopeful. "_This_ August?"

Her eyes drop back to the calendar in her lap, her free hand flipping a couple of pages. "Are you busy on the seventeenth?" she asks mildly, still looking down.

"Yes," he tells her firmly, smile so wide it hurts as he leans up to slide his arms around her waist, his face hovering just inches above Lily's own. She drapes her arms over his shoulders and smiles back at him when he adds, "I'm getting married on the seventeenth."


	8. Wizarding Traditions

**Chapter 6: Wizarding Traditions**

**Disclaimer:** All Harry Potter characters, objects, settings, and plots are the property of J.K. Rowling. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise associated with Harry potter. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made from the writing of this fanfiction.

**Notes:** I'm back! For awhile at least. Hope you enjoy the new chapter, short as it is.

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Lily basks in the glory of her new engagement for nearly a week. During this time, she and James are practically glued at the hip, which (in addition to the apparent over-abundance of "lovey-dovey" behavior and James's unwillingness to stay away from his friends until after the wedding) garners much protest from the Marauders. Lily's friends protest too, but only in that "aw, it's so cute it's sickening" way that girls do. It makes James wrinkle his nose when they do this, but since Lily thinks the involuntary expression is adorable (and causes her to kiss him), he doesn't complain.

The amount of time they spend together these days means their friends spend a lot of time together too. Sirius, a lady's man if ever there was one, was excited about this until he remembered that where Lily's friends were concerned, he'd either 1) already dated her, or 2) she knows him well enough not to be charmed. Still, he basks in the attention, even where it is negative, and has far too much fun "pulling the pigtails" (as Lily has termed it) of all Lily's roommates and closest out-of-house friends. After awhile, Lily thought about avoiding the combined time a bit more simply because she was afraid on several occasions that James's best man was going to get himself _Avada Kedavra_ed before he even had a chance to stand up at their wedding; however, she gives it up as soon as she notices the attention shy and withdrawn Remus is getting. Lily is aware that Evelyn has fancied Remus for most of the year, and watching Remus blush in response to her gentle, sincere flirting has everyone watching with amused surprise.

Lily thinks it very telling as to Sirius's regard for his friend that he only teases Remus about the attention when the other girls aren't around.

But about a week into her engagement, someone (a person Lily doesn't even know, so she must have been a James hanger-on) asks her something about whether she and James are going to incorporate any Muggle traditions into the wedding.

It is at this point that Lily realizes that she knows absolutely nothing about wizarding weddings, and that she is marrying a Pureblood who, while completely unconcerned about her Muggle-born status, probably expects a wizarding ceremony.

And Lily promptly panics.

At first Lily tries to get past it by telling herself that everything will be fine; she will just ask James what wizard weddings are like, and then she'll just go from there. But then, when she does ask James, there's just _so much_ that is different, or just similar enough to be confusing, or...

And then Sirius comes in in the midst of this conversation and starts pitching in details, and Lily has to leave the room.

She then tries to do research. But there just aren't very many books on wedding tradition in the Hogwarts library. What few there are deal either with the history of wizarding weddings (and so lack any reference to current trends), or with forbidden marital bondings (which...okay, good to know, but honestly).

After this failed attempt, Lily returns to the common room feeling rather depressed. She flops down onto the sofa next to James with a teensy sigh, then drops her head on his shoulder.

James hesitates, leaning his cheek on the top of her head. "We can just have a Muggle ceremony, you know," he says, knowing exactly what's bothering her. "I don't mind one way or the other," James tells her, taking her hand and lacing their fingers together.

"You're a Pureblood, James. You can't have a Muggle ceremony."

"My mum and dad won't care either, Lils. And there's no one else in my family to impress."

"His mum would probably love it, to be honest," says Sirius without looking up from the essay he's pretending to write while sneaking glances at Remus's version. "She's really curious about Muggles. She'd likely enjoy the novelty of it."

"That's not really the point," says Lily. "I'd like to honor the wizarding traditions. Besides, I _want_ a wizarding ceremony. I'd like some Muggle elements, I think, but I'm a witch. I want to get married like one. I'm just...frustrated at the sheer amount of information, all of which seems to be irrelevant to actually _planning _a wedding."

James looks at her for a minute, then exchanges glances with the other Marauders.

"Look," says Remus, "as members of the male gender, we're really not the best source of information on this particular subject."

"Since we don't care in the least about wedding details," Sirius interjects.

Remus rolls his eyes. "Have you tried the library?"

Lily rolls her head on James shoulder to better face Remus, then arches an eyebrow at him.

"Right," he says. "Sorry."

"You should just ask Alice," Peter says, shoving half a pumpkin pasty in his mouth.

Everyone turns to stare at him.

"What?" Peter asks. "It makes sense. She's a Pureblood, so she knows all about wizarding wedding traditions, and she's, you know, a _girl_. So. She knows about weddings and stuff."

"Merlin's beard," breathes Sirius, "that's actually a brilliant idea, Pete."

"I do have those on occasion," Peter says, rolling his eyes. "Shall I list the number of pranks that have succeeded because of my utter genius?" Peter finishes his pasty, propping his feet up on the table and oh-so-casually knocking Sirius's quill from his hand and Remus's essay from the table. Sirius scowls at him and bends to pick up his quill.

While he is distracted, Peter shifts his feet so that his heels rest on Sirius's parchment. Sirius shoves his feet away with a little growl of annoyance when he reappears above the table's edge, and Peter snickers madly. In all the fuss, Remus realizes that Sirius has been copying his essay and puts it away in his bag.

"Pete," Sirius cries, noticing the missing essay and Remus's scolding expression, and shoves Peter hard in the shoulder.

Peter shoves him back, then smiles at Lily. "Ask Alice. At the very least, don't ask _that_ idiot anymore." He gestures at James. "He'll tell you what _little_ he knows, and then downplay it in whatever way will get you to marry him fastest."

Lily laughs, feeling a huge sense of relief. "Thanks, Pete."

"You could also talk to my mum," James suggests casually.

"What?" Lily jerks her head up to look at James, eyes wide. She's not met James's parents yet, although she's caught glimpses of them at King's Cross occasionally. She hadn't really thought about it before, but now that she is, the very idea terrifies her. What must they think about her after all these years? "Your mum?"

"She's also a Pureblood and a girl," he teases. "So. She knows about weddings and stuff. Besides," he adds, gently brushing a few errant strands of hair from Lily's eyes, "you need to meet my parents eventually. In case you missed it, that was also a hint that I'd eventually like to meet yours too."

Lily stares at James blankly.

"It's not a big deal, Lils," James murmurs, sliding his hand down her hair soothingly. "They'll love you. And you can't exactly hide from them, you know. We're getting married if you'll recall. My mum will literally hunt you down herself if she goes much longer without meeting you."

"What?" Lily's breathing is fast and panicked.

"He's not kidding," says Sirius, eyes glinting with mischief. "She's fierce, is Mrs. Potter. And it's her ickle baby Jamie you're marrying. She's been writing frantic letters demanding information about you for days."

"Frantic?" Lily squeaks.

"She's even been writing _me_ twice a day, and I don't know her terribly well," says Peter, who doesn't spend nearly as much time at the Potter household as the others. "Never mind how many other owls she's sending."

"She's had to start using the for-hire post owls because she's worn hers out," says Remus.

"I had noticed that," says Sirius, "and even _they're _getting grumpy. It's hilarious."

"It isn't," Remus replies. "Just this morning one bit my finger and then stole a rasher of bacon before flying away. And that was after I'd already fed it half a piece of my toast."

This does not help Lily's panic.

"So talk to Alice, and then talk to my mum?" James asks.

Lily hesitates only a little, but obviously she'll have to meet James's parents eventually (and clearly it will have to be sooner rather than later). And James looks so hopeful that she quickly repeats, "Alice, then your mum."

James looks so excited and thankful that she almost forgets to be nervous about meeting James's parents.

Almost.


	9. Educating Lily

**Chapter 7: Educating Lily**

**Disclaimer:** All Harry Potter characters, objects, settings, and plots are the property of J.K. Rowling. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise associated with Harry Potter. No copyright infringement is intended an no money is being made from the writing of this fanfiction.

**A/N:** Another filler chapter. Sorry, folks. I promise it starts to pick up again in the next chapter! ^_^

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As it turns out, Lily does not need to ask Alice anything. That first weekend after Lily's engagement is a Hogsmeade weekend. Lily and James spend the afternoon together, so Lily does not see Alice at all until dinner, after which her friend forcefully steals her from her fiancé despite Lily's protests.

"Come on, Lils," she says, taking Lily's elbow and pulling her up from her seat at the Gryffindor table. "I have something to show you. I bought it this afternoon, just for you, so do stop fussing. James will survive without you, and vise versa, for one evening, I promise," she adds, rolling her eyes.

Lily whines a little until they exit the Great Hall, then she follows her best friend up to Gryffindor Tower with only a moue of disappointment.

When they reach their dorm, Alice hurries to open her trunk, pulling from it a white paper bag with the Hogsmeade bookstore logo on the front. From within its intriguing depths (for Lily is always terribly interested in the contents of bookstore bags and parcels), Alice pulls a stack of slick magazines, all of them thick, and all of them depicting smiling wizards and witches in the fanciest dress robes Lily's ever seen.

"Alice, what—" she begins, but Alice waves her question aside and fans the magazines out on Lily's bed. "Wedding mags?" Lily guesses, catching sight of a few of the titles.

"_Wizarding_ wedding mags," Alice explains, tapping a finger lightly against the topmost magazine, causing the bride on the front cover to wave brightly up at them. "I thought you might like to take a look at what our traditions entail, in case you want to incorporate any of them into your wedding. And what better method of education is there than lessons via shopping?" Alice's grin has a bit of a wicked tilt to it, and Lily can't help but laugh.

"I suppose there isn't one," she replies.

For the next hour or two, the two girls pour over the magazines, examining pictures of wedding decorations, jewelry, and wedding robes for both bride and groom, the wedding party, and the families. In many ways, Lily is relieved to learn, wizarding and Muggle weddings are much alike. For instance, the idea that it is bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the ceremony on the day of the wedding. However, there are some noticeable differences. Like the binding spell in place of vows. And the dress robes. Alice explains that traditionally, the bride wore blue dress robes, although now it is far more common to see her in robes of a different color, with a mere blue trim or ribbon lacing.

By the time they've flipped through half of the magazines, Lily is feeling a lot more confident about her decision to have a wizarding wedding, and is already sketching out a general idea of what she'd like the ceremony to look like. By the time they finish "educating Lily," she's also got a rough idea of the style of robes she'd like to wear.

Thus it is with high spirits that Lily, waving her newly minted four page list of ideas and to-dos in one hand, skips down the stairs into the common room to inform her fiancé of her excitement regarding all the new wedding ideas she now has. Much to the amusement of all who are present, Lily's enthusiasm results in a wild cross between a skip and a happy dance as she prances around the couch where James and Sirius are seated, exclaiming breathlessly over the things she's learned and enthusing over the things she wants, and what does James have to say about this and that?

James, who still really can't be bothered with the details so long as the day ends with Lily as his wife, simply smiles as she chatters on, punctuating the more exciting bits with wild gestures and endearingly weird expressions that appear to be expressions of glee. This goes on for some minutes before Lily appears to run out of breath and collapses on the couch between James and his best friend. She squirms a bit until she's situated in James's lap, one arm draping over the back of his neck and the other prompting him to examine her list by waving it in his face until he takes it from her. When he does so, she wiggles around until James reaches to support her back with one arm, and then stretches her feet out so that she can poke Sirius with her toes.

"Here," she says, flipping to the page where the groom's responsibilities have been listed, the bit she most wants James's opinion about, and points to the relevant lists. "Look at...look at this part," she says, giggling breathlessly between words as Sirius, fed up with her poking, bats irritably at her feet, which are ticklish. She squeaks (rather unattractively, she thinks) when Sirius finally just grabs her ankles and yanks, forcing her feet to rest in her lap just above his knees.

"Sirius!" she protests, trying to kick her feet free. "Let go."

"It's your own fault for poking me with your long, Grindylow toes," he says, glaring sternly. "Now be still."

"I can't!" she complains, giving a happy wiggle. "I'm too excited. And I do _not_ have toes like a Grindylow. My toes are elegant, not creepy. And I wasn't _really_ poking you."

"You weren't?" Sirius arches a mocking eyebrow.

"My feet are cold. And the blanket that lives on this couch has disappeared. And I _know_ it was you who made it leave, Sirius Black. So I wasn't so much poking you as I was expressing my displeasure at your blanket theft."

"You wouldn't be complaining if you knew what we'd done with it," Sirius told her, grinning mischievously.

"There's no excuse for stealing, Black," Lily replies loftily, sticking her nose in the air with a dainty sniff.

"Much as I hate to disagree with you, Lily my love, there is," James cuts in, distracted from his half hearted attempt

"Oh?" Lily gives him a hard stare. It's a look she's perfected over the years, one that says 'I know this is the result of yet another prank, but please, do entertain me with your useless excuses and explanations.'

James, well-used to this look, simply winks and kisses the tip of her upturned nose. "It wasn't a prank, I promise," he says quietly, so as to keep Alice from overhearing him.

Lily frowns in confusion. "What then?"

"It was donated to an important cause. A post-furry little problem cause," Sirius leans over to explain.

Lily's frown deepens as she thinks that rather cryptic explanation over, but it's not until she catches sight of Remus's disgruntled expression that she remembers that "furry little problem" is the term Sirius created as a euphemism for Remus's lycanthropy.

When he catches her looking, Remus gives her a rather sheepish smile, but Lily just grins back. "I suppose, if ever there was something worth stealing for, it's post-furry comfort," she tells him quietly. Sirius snickers wickedly when her comment has Remus shrinking back in his chair, expression caught somewhere between a pleased smile and embarrassment.

James rests his chin on Lily's shoulder and gazes up at her with the sappy expression that Sirius never fails to mock (when he's not too busy mocking Remus, as he is now), but which makes Lily's heart flutter and fills her with warmth. "No detention, then, Head Girl?" he murmurs.

"Of course not!" she whispers back. "Not when it's for Remus!"

The sappy expression gets sappier. "I love you," he says, his voice all warm, dark velvet in her ears. She leans against his chest, the arm around his neck tightening as she tilts her head down to kiss him.

"I know," she tells him when she pulls away, and then laughs in smug delight when an expression of startled indignation settles on his face. James huffs at her, but Lily only shoves her list back in his hand and points again to the list labeled "groom."

"Well?" she asks, and James sighs but humors her. Lily, still feeling warm and fuzzy and generally much happier than is fair for any one person—not that she's complaining—smiles down at that top of his head.

Just then, Sirius leans back from where he's been reaching to pester Remus in some way or other, and in the process, brushes the back of one arm against Lily's toes, still held in his lap by his hand on her ankles.

"Gah!" Sirius shrieks, startled. "Your feet are like ice!"

"I tried to tell you they were cold," Lily sniffs.

"Can you even _feel_ those?" Sirius pokes curiously at one big toe. "You know, they've invented these clever things called socks. When you put them on your feet, they help prevent said feet from going numb with cold. And also protect innocent passersby from dangerous brushes with freezing toes."

"It's only right that you should be cold too; if I'd _known _the blanket had been stolen, I would have _worn_ socks!" Lily scowls furiously at the thief and wiggles her cold toes at him.

"Oh for the love of—" Sirius rolls his eyes dramatically and reaches down to snatch a scarf—red and gold cashmere, one of James's new Gryffindor winter set, a gift from his mother this last Christmas—and wraps the garment securely about Lily's feet. He examines the wrapping to ensure there are no spaces showing, then tied the ends in a neat little bow and dropped Lily's feet into the space between him and James with a patronizing little pat to the top of the bow.

Lily starts to smile at his disguised kindness until she realizes he's effectively just tied her feet together, and then the smile morphs into a scowl.

"Is this like an advanced form of tying someone's shoelaces together?" she demands. "Because if I trip and fall on my face, there _will _ be consequences, Sirius Black."

"I was trying to help!" Sirius cries, throwing his hands in the air. "Your feet were cold, I fixed it. The least you could do is say thank you."

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James smiles as his best friend launches into a full scale battle against the love of his life. He's come to realize that neither of them truly harbors any hard feelings towards the other; James is of the opinion that fighting has just become an enjoyable habit for both of them. One that also provides James and the other Marauders with endless entertainment.

For this reason he lets it go on unfettered for awhile, using the time to read over all four pages (four pages!) of Lily's list, cringing a little at the number of details she already has written down, knowing that the list will expand exponentially between now and August, and that Lily will want his input on all of it.

Unless...unless she and his mother get on so well (oh how he hopes and wishes that they will get on well!) that Lily will be happy to plan the whole thing with his mother and leave him out of it altogether.

Except for the groomsmen stuff. He fully plans on torturing his friends with lots of groomsmen duties, and so on, and he intends to enjoy every minute of it. But the rest of it...he knows his mother will want to get her hands all over this wedding, and he mentally wishes her joy.

Which reminds him.

"This list is very detailed, Lils," James says casually. "You should bring it along tomorrow. It'll give you a good place to start when you're ready to talk to my mother about the wedding."

The silence that follows that comment is almost palpable as Lily leaves off arguing with Sirius to stare at James in shock.

"Your mother?" she squeaks. "Tomorrow?"

"Yep! We have special permission from the headmaster to go visit. Your list-making is perfectly timed." He shoots her a winning smile, and inwardly laughs when her frozen expression thaws into a mask of horror and shock.

"_Tomorrow!_"

She may be the love of his life, but he does _so_ love to tease and rile her.


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